How to upgrade your virtual sales enablement approach for long-term success

Virtual sales enablement employs a combination of technology, information, and human interaction to support sellers at every stage of the selling journey.

In their whitepaper Allego outlines how companies can build a sales enablement strategy that prepares them for growth in any environment, including one that is almost entirely virtual.

Modern sales enablement goes beyond sharing presentation decks and managing contacts. It requires a comprehensive strategy that leverages a holistic approach to selling, employing tools, content, and information with the goal of providing sellers with everything they need to succeed.

Some of key points from the whitepaper include:

• The four elements of modern sales enablement
• A 2021 enablement checklist
• The right technology – where Allego fits in

While this article touches on some key points of Allego’s modern enablement approach, their guide goes into much more detail about what companies must consider when creating a sustainable strategy. You can download Allego’s whitepaper from here.

Content created in partnership with Allego.

The four elements of modern sales enablement

In our post-pandemic world, virtual selling has become the norm among B2B sales teams. Companies that quickly pivoted to virtual selling back in March and April of 2020 are now planning their sales enablement strategies for 2021 within the constraints of this new normal.

Writes Allego, “The processes and tactics you put in place in the spring likely weren’t designed for the long term, and sales teams have often had to learn on-the-fly how to succeed when in-person meetings aren’t possible. It’s time to figure out what works in this new world and what doesn’t.”

Planning for the “next normal,” means including a range of elements from providing mobile access to content, to educating reps about how to use each asset, to connecting sellers with prospects and buyers along the entire sales cycle. Allego’s four elements of a modern selling are: learning, content, collaboration, and insight.

1. Learning: Sellers must have “just-in time” learning at the moment of need, but also a solid background of foundational training. Combining these two approaches ensures that sales reps are equipped with the information they need exactly when they need it.
2. Content: Content is the heart of your strategy. Ensuring sellers have relevant content in context—content that’s discoverable and easy to share—is key to the modern sales enablement approach.
3. Collaboration: Virtual collaboration is essential in a modern enablement environment. Your strategy and technology must foster communication between all your relevant teams—sales, marketing, managers, subject matter experts, and buyers.
4. Insight: Data is the fourth main element of a modern sales approach. “The most effective sales enablement is data-driven,” writes Allego. Sellers need access to integrated platform dashboards and data visualizations that help them understand buyer engagement and tie actions to outcomes.

A 2021 sales enablement checklist

Allego’s guide includes a checklist of tasks to complete when creating a modern enablement strategy, with items from the list falling into one of the four elements listed above. Here is a sample of what’s included on the checklist:

• Learning – Set up seller practice and role-play sessions.
• Content – Organize sales collateral and make it available remotely.
• Collaboration – Give sellers a way to tap into the expertise of subject matter experts.
• Insight – Determine which content is most and least effective.

Writes Allego, “Mastering sales enablement means investing in the tools your sellers need. You could cobble together multiple platforms with a range of capabilities, but the most efficient approach is having learning, content, collaboration, and insight all in one place.”

The right technology – where Allego fits in

Redesigning your sales enablement approach to meet long-term needs requires taking a stock of what you’re already doing.

Sales reps, on average, use six tools to facilitate selling including CRMs, email engagement tools, and more. Consolidating your tools into a single, holistic platform saves money and replaces siloed tools with an all-in-one system that gives you a 360-degree view of selling and buying behavior.

By consolidating tools, you can reduce your overall workload, increase user adoption of the technology, and cut costs by eliminating redundancies. Allego’s platform addresses all four elements of a modern, holistic sales enablement strategy.

You can learn more about Allego, get the full 2021 sales enablement checklist, and read about how a medical device manufacturer achieved nearly 100 percent rep adoption for the platform by downloading Allego’s whitepaper here.